Translated : Alleged Mistreatment in the National League

“우리는 윤성효 감독에게 장난감 취급 당했다”

“Manager Yoon Sunghyo treated us like his playthings”

2018년 3월 9일 3:06 오전

ⓒ 내셔널리그National League

*Disclaimer – This is a translation of an article published by a Korean journalist and we have not fact-checked the veracity of the claims made in the article. We accept no responsibility for any claims made. The translation was not undertaken by a qualified translator and therefore we accept no responsibility for for any differences between the original and the translation*

Any pro-sportsman who gets no love from his manager or who is not used as a key player will be unhappy. Quite often they blame the manager complaining “I don’t get any playing time because the manager hates me.” However, what if key players, players that were renowned for being leaders, squad players that have left the club and loan players that were only around for a short time all complain of unfair treatment from the manager? There are some players who gathered their courage and opened up about the unfair treatment that they’ve suffered in the past year. Today we’re reporting on the alleged unfair treatment dished out to players at Gimhae Citizen of the National League by manager Yoon Sunghyo. These guys, as one, complained that they were “forced out after being played with a few times like an unwanted toy.”

In the first half of last season, Gimhae Citizens were unstoppable as they went top of the table. During the mid-season break they went to Yanggu in Gangwon Province to take part in the National Sports Festival. However, despite playing the full-strength team that had stormed the league they crashed out in the qualifiers. Yoon Sunghyo swung the axe immediately. He pointed out several players and told them to “Get out!” Even though it was the same first teamers who had been doing well in the league that lost in the cup, he said complained that “the squad players were no good” and blamed players who hadn’t even played for the defeat. It was only four months since the start of the season but 14 players were forced to pack their bags. Such was the wind of change at the 1st place team.

However, the problem lies in the contract termination process. In the National League there are no long-term contracts and all players are on 1 year short-term deals. They negotiate their salary at the beginning of each year before signing. Player A, who left the club at this time, said “They gave us a resignation letter. They showed us where to sign. We asked what would happen if we signed. They told us that would mean the instant termination of the contract.” There was a reason why the club, which itself wanted the player out, was demanding a resignation letter instead of making the player a free agent and that was to get rid of the player without paying any of the outstanding salary. Gimhae City Hall, which runs the Gimhae Citizens, was sensitive about this issue. They forced these players who had not even completed half of their short-term one year contract to sign a resignation letter. According to the players not one of them was able to refuse to sign it.

Those players who left partway through the season forewent their remaining salary. Player B, who left at this time, revealed his feelings. “Normally, if a professional team cancels a contract partway through, although they don’t pay out the contract they give you at least half. Since it’s a one year contract, per the terms of the contract in a dispute the player will win. He can just see out his contract. However, in this case, the opposition was Yoon Sunghyo. He is famous in the university and pro leagues. He has a lot of influence. The football world is quite small and therefore I signed the resignation letter under duress because I was afraid I would get blacklisted.” There was also a player who was about to get married. But he too, was told to leave the team mid-season and signed his resignation letter. “Telling me to leave the team just before my wedding date was really harsh,” he said. “I asked if I could get half of my remaining salary” he continued. But Yoon’s attitude was unsympathetic. His only answer was “Get out!”

There were quite a few players who were released while getting changed for training. Player C was one of them. He was getting ready for training when he was called over by Coach Lee Gilyong and told “pack your stuff right now and leave.” C was a veteran player with a coaching badge, who was approaching retirement. He was dumbfounded but he thought it was polite to say good bye to the manager so he replied to the coach “I’ll just say bye to the manager and then I’ll leave.” But Lee stopped him mid-sentence saying “The manager feels sorry for you so he’s embarrassed to see you again. You’re better off just leaving quietly.” C said “I was so disappointed that someone who promised me that we would have the opportunity to coach together would just kick me to the kerb like that.” Like the others, C signed a resignation letter on his way out and gave up on 6 months of salary.

Players that Yoon didn’t like were forced to leave the team immediately regardless of how long was left on their contract. Even though player D was nursing an injury, he gritted his teeth and played so as not to fall out of favour with Yoon. However, he told us that he was worn at with every curse under the sun after a drawn match (1-1) at the end of the season, where if they had won they would have finished top of the league. D who had started almost every game was dropped from the squad altogether for the last game. D sought out Yoon and asked him “have I done something wrong?” Yoon replied “Nothing.” Since D wasn’t even in the squad he told Yoon about his injury saying “Actually, I’ve been nursing this injury but since I’m not even in the squad would it be ok if I skipped training for a day?” The next day at training, Yoon gathered all the players together and called D to the front.

And in that moment D felt deeply offended. Yoon said “show us where you’re hurt” and when D pointed to his ankle, according to several players, Yoon let rip with a tirade of abuse. “Do you guys think this b*stard really looks injured? Just get rid of this b*stard.” D was forced to pack up his stuff and leave the team that same day. The team still had the play-offs to compete in and D had an ironclad contract but Yoon had him kicked out with just one sentence. One player, who witnessed this incident, had this to say. “We’re adults but he just treats us like a toy that he plays with for a bit and then casts aside. If Yoon tells you to get out, you leave that day.” Players who leave the team that suddenly have nowhere to go. D was a young player with a bright future but his playing career ended that day. He’s now planning to do his military service.

Player E’s situation was even more ridiculous. He had experience of playing professionally and joined the team mid-season last July. When joining, Yoon convinced him by saying “I’ll give you a big salary next year so just play with us for this amount for the rest of the season.” E gave up the lure of money and invested himself in playing for Gimhae Citizens for six months. According to others he was “being paid only as much as a trainee.” He played continuously for the rest of the season and when it was time to start pre-season training he sat down to negotiate a new contract. But the salary proposed by the coach was far, far lower than E had expected. “It was so different from what I was lead to believe. Yoon had promised me that if we finished last season well he would give me a big raise.” So he counter-offered with “Even if you can’t give me the full amount, at least give me a few million more.”

The coach took the counter-offer to the Yoon but when he brought back Yoon’s answer, E couldn’t believe it. “The manager told me to just tell you to leave the team.” Ex-pro E said “Nevertheless I wanted to negotiate my salary” but Yoon sent him on his way without any further salary talks. E had planned to stay with the team if he was being treated well was suddenly without any club at all and he’s now playing in the K3. Gimhae Citizens finished as runners-up in the play-off final thanks to the sacrifices of players like E; a team that has consistently finished mid- or towards the bottom of the table had achieved a remarkable result but to everyone’s surprise of the 28 players in last year’s squad, only two remain this year. 26 players have just disappeared.

There are players who could claim to feel even more hard done by. Player F got married in the off-season. He was devoted to the team and even had an offer to join the coaching staff. He had of course bought the newly-wed couple’s first house in Gimhae. He had told Yoon that “because I don’t have my coaching license, I will earn it while working as a coach” and Yoon had not raised any objections. Last November, when the biannual training session for aspiring coaches in the National League was held, F said “I need to prepare for my wedding so I’ll take part in the March one” and finished his season. But after that, there was no contact from the club telling him to report back for pre-season. Gimhae Citizen eventually told him “we can’t use someone as a coach who doesn’t even have a level 3 coaching badge, so give us a call when you get your license.”

However, a coaching badge is not a pre-requisite for working as a playing coach. F, who in the blink of an eye was out of the club to which he had been devoted to for such a long time, sought out Heo Seonggon, the Mayor of Gimhae and told him the whole story. But Heo told him “Yoon told us that you left the team in order to start your own business.” F had never said anything of the sort. F kept trying to discuss this issue and tried to get it resolved and thus filed a written complaint in the Gimhae City website. City officials deleted his posts and never gave him a clear answer to his questions.

There was also a player who was threatened into leaving the club. G, who had been a first-team player last season, was one of only a few players to receive the offer of a new contract. He was on holiday during the off-season and became aware of a talented goalkeeper who was available to sign. He recommended the player to Yoon saying “This player is skillful, please check him out.” However, upon seeing this message, Yoon exploded. He complained of “players telling the manager to do this and that.” G was told over the phone that his offer of a new contract was being rescinded and that he should look for a new club. Luckily, another club was keen to sign him and made him an offer as soon as his contract with Gimhae expired. G signed the new contract in an instant.

However, Yoon instructed the coach to call G and order him to “return to the club and sign a new contract.” G replied that “I was released by Gimhae Citizen and I’ve already signed a new contract with another team. However, in the National League there is something called the ‘two year rule’. This clause states that unless the club releases the player or declines to renew his contract, a player cannot move clubs after just one year. It applies to everyone from the first year player to someone who has been playing in the league for ten years. When Gimhae Citizen heard that G had a signed a contract with a new club they asked him “to pay half of the salary he was due to receive from his new club in compensation, citing the ‘two year rule’.” G was angry and spent ten minutes arguing on the phone with the coach who had called him on behalf of Yoon saying that “Gimhae Citizen had informed him that his contract was up and therefore the ‘two year rule’ didn’t apply.”

G had a good enough reason to leave the team. “This was when most players had been let go and there were only three or four left. I knew I would eventually become one of those players; just discarded one morning. In fact, it was clear that I would be next. So I was desperate to secure another club before that happened.” The National League investigated the situation and ruled that because Gimhae Citizen had communicated verbally that G’s contract was over, he could complete his transfer to his new club and so G eventually got to leave Gimhae. G had this to say about life at Gimhae Citizen. “We used to joke that it was like a last man standing game. It’s a team that boots you out if you do badly in just one match. We called Yoon a dictator.” If it was perpetual bench-warmers who were saying these things you might think that it was because they were bitter but most of them were first-teamers and National League veterans. We cannot just ignore what they’re saying.

In preparation for the start of the season, Yoon has filled his squad with new players. I’ve heard that most footballers look at Gimhae Citizen through slanted eyes. Most coaches are saying that “anyway, come July half of the squad will be let go.” So why would players trust Yoon despite this? Firstly, he is giving out tempting offers to National League players and Kleague squad players whose position is quite insecure. That is employment at an urban development corporation that is a state-run enterprise. According to a spokesman for Gimhae Citizen, ‘if you play well here, you can join the state-run UDC via a special recruitment round.” There is nothing so attractive to player who can’t get a game in the Kleague as employment at a state-run enterprise. To players of a certain age, this kind of special recruitment round is especially attractive. However, from a few years ago the UDC has not had special recruitment and instead has had an open competitive recruitment process. To get accepted in a special recruitment process on the basis of having played football for a few years at the Gimhae City Council team would be like winning the lottery. Nevertheless, players facing an uncertain future continue to be charmed by this kind of proposal.

Also, the fact that Yoon is well known in university and professional football circles also makes joining Gimhae Citizen attractive to players. That Gimhae was able to sign 13 players immediately after releasing 14 players last July is down to this. From players who had just finished their alternative military service to players that had been without a club for a few months after dropping out of the Kleague, Yoon’s name was enough to get them to sign for Gimhae Citizen. There were also quite a few players who were brought in on loan from the Kleague. However, one player who trusted Yoon and signed for Gimhae Citizen has now fallen foul of the ‘two year rule’ and unable to sign for another National League team has gone down to the K3. He has to wait it out there for six months and then come the summer transfer window he can have the chance to sign for a Kleague team or a different National League team. This player said “playing in the K3 is the say as being unemployed. Since I have no income I tried to get a loan but because I’m unemployed I couldn’t even get one. Life is really tough these days.” This was a player who recorded a fairly high number of goals and assists last season while playing for Gimhae Citizen.

Most players came here due to Yoon’s name value. However, one player, who scored an own goal during a match, was humiliated when in front of the other players, Yoon berated him saying “are you involved in match-fixing?” Without exception all the players who played under Yoon at Gimhae Citizen last season are full of anger and frustration. Despite being runners-up, quite a few players have ended up going down a level to play in the K3 before being forced to give up playing and join the army. One player commented disparagingly “I would understand it if our results had been bad. However, last year we were runners-up for the first time in five or six years. For that our reward was being forced to leave the team.” Another player said, “I’m here on loan so it doesn’t really matter to me because I can return to my own team. However, when I think that there are others here who are being treated like consumable goods my heart feels heavy.”

Hearing the players’ stories was a big shock. There were revelations that, when I heard them, made me question whether it was really possible. There were a few claims that were some severe in nature that I can to leave them out. C, who was one of the players forced to sign a resignation letter said, “If you tell a player to leave the team without any warning that player dies at that moment. But why would you go as far as signing a resignation letter when the club tells you to leave. Yoon has a wide reach. No one wants to be bullied. If you leave quietly, you can try and join another National League team so even if you feel hard done by, you just take it.” Another player, who has played at several different National League teams added, “I’ve played for several different teams. They all had affection for their players and tried to treat them right. However, Gimhae Citizen is not like that. They just use people and then discard them as soon as they do something wrong. The reason why I’ve gotten up the courage to speak up even after leaving the team, is because I would hate for what happened to me to happen to someone else. They’re not even long-term contracts; just one year so they need to become a team that lets players complete them.”

One player had this to say. “I always knew the story would come out eventually.” When I was asking other players about various players’ stories to confirm them, I heard the same thing again and again. “Did the players tell you all this? I want to say that it’s all made up but it isn’t; it’s all true. They all suffered as they’ve described.” One former Kleaguer with lots of experience and a good record resolved to try and get back into the Kleague but ended up retiring from football completely. “I was one of the ones who came here after hearing about the Urban Development Corporation. They told me that they would take care of me so I didn’t have to worry about old age. I believed that and came here but when they tossed me aside the shock was so great that I couldn’t face playing football again.” Another player said “isn’t it ridiculous that a team that goes into the mid-season break in first place gets rid of 14 players?”

윤성효 감독은 과연 합리적이고 상식적으로 팀을 운영했을까. Did Yoon really run the team rationally and with common sense? ⓒ 내셔널리그 National League

윤성효감독의반론, “사직서강요한적없어”

Yoon’s statement “I’ve never forced players to sign a letter of resignation.”

It will not be easy to solve this issue. FIFPro Korea protects the rights of Kleague players but it will be difficult to reach out to the semi-pro National League. Kim Hoongi, the secretary-general of FIFPro Korea said “I know that there are players who are facing a difficult situation legally and also in terms of documentation, there is no evidence of a problem so it’s difficult to help them.” He added, “Gimhae Citizen will just claim that the players signed termination agreements voluntarily. Even if we tell them to resist, that would have been impossible for them to do. In that situation there only option was to sign. I can help them personally but it is not the jurisdiction of FIFPro Korea so I’m a little cautious.”

Of course we also wanted to hear Yoon’s side of the story. When we asked him directly he said “what a load of rubbish.” He said that claims that he had forced players to leave mid-season by forcing them to sign resignation letters were patently untrue. “I’ve never ordered anyone to leave; it was always a mutual decision. I never forced them. With the world the way it is today, how could I force them? It’s a load of rubbish. They all have contracts so if they say they will stay with the team there’s nothing I can do. I’ve spoken to players and said ‘it seems like you’re having a tough time here so think about what you want to do’ and by talking it through with them, they came to the decision to leave. They were the ones who signed resignation letters so how can they turn around and say these things? Before signing the letters, if they’d said to me, ‘Boss, I still have time left on my contract so I want to stay with the team’ I would have told them to stay.” This is the exact opposite of the players’ claims.

I also asked about the player who claimed that he was released for trying to negotiate a higher salary. Yoon listened to this story and said, “this makes my blood boil.” “We can’t match everyone’s desired salary. We’re not a professional team. Our budget is obvious; we couldn’t give him any more. There can be some back and forth over salary in the Kleague but this is an amateur league. I’m not going to dignify these preposterous claims with an answer. After managing a player for six months you get to know their ability and value. If there are several players of a similar level and one of them asks for a ridiculously large salary of course we can’t come to an agreement. We felt that the raise that we offered him was sufficient. I’m repeating myself, but this is not the Kleague. There are 30 players in our squad and this guy and that guy all want different things. We can’t cater for everyone. If there is a player who is so upset about it, tell him to come and speak to me directly.”

김해시청은 과연 올바른 길로 가고 있는 것일까. Are Gimhae Citizen on the right path? (해당 사진은 본 칼럼과 연관이 없음을 알려드립니다. This photo is unrelated to the column.) ⓒ 내셔널리그 National League

Thereafter, Yoon emphasized his record. “Before I came to this club, not one player had gone on to play in the Kleague. But since I took over the team quite a few players have managed to turn professional. One went to Gangwon and one to Jeonnam. One went to Ansan and another to Bucheon. One guy went to Daejeon and another joined National League team Gyeongju Hydro-electric Power on good money.” However, even among those players, there were players who spoke with us candidly about their dissatisfaction about the treatment dished out to their former colleagues. Readers should know that it was not just players who were kicked out that were unhappy. The confessions of players, who were really unhappy about what had happened to their colleague, were even more shocking. One player rebutted that by saying, “Yoon goes up to City Hall and boasts about how many players he’s sent to the Kleague but the truth is that the majority of those players moved after getting a trial through their own efforts.”

Yoon added, “in a company you don’t give a big salary to someone that doesn’t do good work. Nowadays everything is performance-based. Football is the same. We think it’s difficult to accommodate someone that wants a lot more money than their talent justifies.” Yoon had one last comment. “Of course any player that’s quit a club will be bitter about it. I’ve done nothing wrong here. Moreover, this team is run by City Hall, if you don’t follow the rules, it makes waves. I’ve never violated what was agreed on while working here.” It’s clear that Yoon got great results last season in taking Gimhae Citizen to the play-off final. No one can deny that he’s taken a perpetually mid-table club to this position.

However, we also need to pay attention to what the players are saying. One player had this to say, “If we just consider hunger, National League players are much hungrier than professionals but despite that there was even a player who has so hurt that he quit after six months. If you just kick someone out one morning, while ignoring his contract, then in some ways that’s his life over.” Another player made this startling admission, “I want to play in the National League or Kleague again but I’m worried what he might do to me. The football community is very small so I’m scared.” Still one of the other players who agreed to participate in the interview insisted that, despite shaking with fear, he wanted to make sure that the world got to know about this. “So many of my friends were treated so unfairly. I mean, I can start anew but someone else might trust Yoon and go to Gimhae Citizen. That’s why I think I need to get the truth out.”

“마음에안들면버리는게윤성효축구?”

“Is discarding players who you don’t like Yoon’s footballing philosophy?”

If someone has a lot of ambition but a lack of talent, then if he failed to seize his opportunity and was released by the club then and was bitter about it then this story would go in one ear and out the other. But in the course of investigating this story there was something in common with all of the players that I talked to. At first they, they were tight-lipped with fear but eventually exploded in a fit of anger and resentment. I can’t reveal their identities but they range from young players to veterans, from those that have dropped out of football and are waiting to do military service to those who have moved on to better things but they all spoke with one voice. Of course we also need to listen to Yoon’s side of the story but it is time to reconsider whether or not there are unfair practices going on here. One player summed it up succinctly, saying “playing with players like a toy and then discarding them when you get bored might just be Yoon’s footballing philosophy.”